Beaver Falls boxer Kiante Irving off to hot start in professional career

By Greg Macafeegmacafee@timesonline.com

Thursday

Jan 3, 2019 at 5:58 PMJan 3, 2019 at 5:58 PM

AMBRIDGE — Back in September, Beaver Falls native Kiante Irving accomplished a childhood dream that he had been chasing ever since he first stepped in the gym at Tom Yankello’s World Class Boxing Gym at the age of 16.

Just three months after becoming the first boxer from Western Pennsylvania to win the National Golden Gloves tournament, Irving made the decision to take his talents to the professional level. And ever since he made that decision, Irving has been on a tear.

In three fights since Sept. 2, Irving has knocked out all three of his opponents and has only needed four rounds to do so. He won his first fight with ease, knocking out his first opponent in the first round.

Then, in just the second fight of his professional career, Irving had the opportunity to fight in front of a hometown crowd at the Priory Grand Hall in Pittsburgh. Friends and family made the trip to support the 24-year-old and Irving delivered a show. In the first few minutes, Irving knocked down Brandon “Slingshot” Clark from Columbus, Ohio multiple times, then he finished the job with a strong left hook that knocked Clark out for good.

“That was one of my favorite fights so far because I got to fight in front of all my people,” Irving said. “Everyone was wearing my shirts, they were going wild. That was a great feeling.”

His most recent fight, a bout in Washington D.C. against 30-year-old George Sheppard from Savannah, Ga., is his only fight that has gone more than one round, but Irving ended it with a technical knockout early in the second.

With a smile, Irving said he was happy with how much success he is having this early in his professional career. But, Yankello is not surprised at all by the way Irving has been knocking down his opponents one by one.

“I definitely did,” Yankello said when asked if he saw Irving having this much success this early. “He’s got a ton of potential, I just feel like he has world class potential, it’s just all about discipline, he’s gotta avoid distractions and stay disciplined, and that’s the difference between making it and not making it.”

With his 6-foot-3 frame, Irving has been bigger and longer than most of his super middleweight opponents. He’s been able to use the combination of a slick jab and a powerful hook to control his fights. But, aside from his physical attributes and talents, Irving has had the opportunity to fight several different fighters when he was an amateur, and he believes that experience has helped him out even more as a pro.

“I think that experience from sparring, traveling from gym to gym and seeing different styles, different looks, has helped out a lot,” Irving said. “But, I’ve also realized I’m bigger than most guys, so me being at the 160-weight class, I feel like that’s going to be my weight class for sure.”

When Irving signed his first professional contract with Victory Boxing Promotions, he was promised a minimum of eight fights in the first 12 months. Since signing that contract, the young Beaver Falls native has stayed busy. He’s fought at least once a month since September and he is looking forward to keeping that streak alive in the new year.

He’ll get his first opportunity to do so on Saturday, when he takes on Turner Williams from Beckley, W.Va. at Moundsville Penitentiary in Moundsville, W. Va.

Williams comes into Saturday night’s bout with an overall record of 2-8 and is currently on a two-fight losing streaking. But in his 10 professional fights, only two opponents have a losing record, four of those 10 are undefeated, and eight have five or more wins.

Along with that, both boxers weren't notified until Thursday afternoon that they would be squaring off on Saturday. But, Irving is no stranger to fighting opponents on short notice. During his National Golden Gloves Championship run, Irving had to win multiple fights on just such a notice, and he believes that will help him on Saturday.

“I’m used to the short-notice circumstances,” Irving said. “It doesn’t change the outcome of the fight.”

This will just be the start for Irving in 2019. At the moment he is planning on fighting at the Mountaineer Casino Ballroom in February. Then, he is planning on returning to Pittsburgh to fight at the Priory Grand Hall for the second time in his young career, and it definitely won’t stop there.

“This is just a train that isn’t going to stop,” Irving said.

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